Wednesday, May 28, 2008

One reason I like making pizza so much are the great leftovers it provides. I don’t mean the cold pizza, which is in the leftover Hall of Fame, I am referring to all those great toppings that didn't get used. A few mushrooms here, a hunk of cheese there, maybe some roasted peppers hiding behind the olives. Some of my greatest omelets, pastas, and risottos have followed a pizza-making binge.

This warm mozzarella and bread salad was no different. What was different was the bright idea I had when I went to serve the salad. I placed it on the table, and went to get the rest of the meal. As I looked across the kitchen, I saw the pesto glistening on the bright white cheese. It looked good. So, I decided to film the plate being placed in the sunny window as part of the recipe (which you'll see in the video).

The results were stunning. The sun warmed the cheese, woke the pesto, and turned a very good bread salad into a memorable one. Now, I'm not saying the sun's rays imparted some kind of mysterious, magical energy into it, but I have been humming John Denver tunes ever since. Enjoy!

While I do not doubt the deliciousness of this recipe, I do have a question regarding its health and nutrition (and your recipes in general). Here you use tons of oil (several tablespoons + pesto), cheese and bread. From a nutritional standpoint, this is basically just pure fat soaking a few (less-than-stellar depending on bread) carbs.

I noticed many of your recipes call for lots of oil/creme/cheese/etc. as well. I am thus curious - do you tend to cook these dishes regularly, or are they mostly a "guilty pleasure" once in a whole? Or am I just over-reacting about these ingredients? I used to be fairly overweight in the past and after getting in good shape, grown to be fairly health-conscious about my food, but I do sometimes take it to the extreme. I figured I'd just ask the master himself :)

Eitherway, I do love your video reviews (you have a great voice and sense of humor) and your recipes are indeed absolutely deliscious. One of the few blogs I follow these days!